Clear contrasts for governor

Anyone who uses the all-politicians-are-alike bromide as an excuse not to vote Tuesday hasn't been paying attention to the Ohio governor's race.

Anyone who uses the all-politicians-are-alike bromide as an excuse not to vote Tuesday hasn't been paying attention to the Ohio governor's race.

Just ask the candidates.

Speaking to supporters at a voter call center in Elyria last week, Gov. Ted Strickland said that he and his Republican opponent, John Kasich, are as different as day and night.

"There is almost nothing that we agree on, almost nothing, all the way from the days when we were in Congress," Strickland said.

On that point, Kasich would agree, especially when it comes to the choice voters have.

"There's nobody neutral," he said.

Stylistically, socially, philosophically and politically, Kasich and Strickland are starkly dissimilar. They would lead the state in very different directions, and inside and outside Ohio, the perception of the state will vary dramatically depending on who is elected.

Strickland, 69, a moderate Democrat, six-term congressman, former Methodist minister and doctor of psychology, is patient and generous with his time. He enjoys mingling with people; that's evident on the campaign trail by the many shoulders he clasps and the extra minutes he spends talking one-on-one with voters or fielding reporters' questions. In fact, he has been the most accessible governor in recent Ohio history.

Kasich, 58, a conservative Republican who served nine terms in the House, then became an investment banker and Fox News on-air personality, is perpetually in a hurry, eager to move on to the next person, the next event, because time is precious and there is much to do. He has a business approach to campaigning - it's a necessary means to an end - and he views the news media as a bit of a nag, albeit necessary.

In the throes of a stubborn recession and on the cusp of a punishing budget crisis, Ohioans will judge which style is better-suited for the times. Although Strickland and Kasich have given short shrift to specifics, they are as different as chocolate and vanilla on the issues.

If Kasich is elected, he vows to kill Strickland's so-called "evidence-based" school-funding model, a formula that puts price tags on each factor deemed part of a quality education - smaller class sizes, better-trained teachers, tutors, etc. - and then directs money to schools to fund those factors. Kasich says the model is unfunded and unsustainable and puts too many mandates on schools. He has not offered a specific alternative beyond saying that more money must go for classroom instruction.

Kasich also has declared "dead" the 3C passenger-rail system that Strickland has embraced, along with the $400 million in federal stimulus money to help pay for it. Kasich has said Ohio's estimated $17 million annual cost is not worth spending on a passenger-train system connecting Cleveland, Columbus , Dayton and Cincinnati; he says few people will ride it because it will be too slow and inconvenient.

The candidates also have clashed on alternative energy. Strickland trumpets the job-creating potential of the state's mandate that at least 25 percent of electricity produced by 2025 come from advanced-energy sources. Kasich worries about the impact it will have on utility costs.

The most-immediate issue the next governor will face is dealing with Ohio's projected $8 billion deficit in the next two-year budget, which begins July 1. Whoever wins must submit an executive budget early next year.

Neither Strickland nor Kasich has provided specifics about what spending he would cut or other moves he would make to balance the budget. Each instead points to his work on previous budgets as guidance for how he would act, although neither has faced a fiscal crisis of this magnitude, with revenue actually shrinking.

But Kasich has pledged not to raise taxes and, in a move that could add to the budget shortfall, has promised to implement the final 4.2 percent phase-in of a 5-year income tax cut that was delayed last year to fill an $851 million hole in the current budget.

Kasich did not rule out closing tax loopholes, but he said he would find cuts elsewhere so that Ohioans' overall tax burden is not increased.

Kasich has talked about "restructuring" state government after a thorough review, but he has provided few details beyond wanting to privatize the Development Department, appointing a board of private-sector chief executive officers to oversee it. Strickland said that could lead to abuses in decisions on who receives state funding for private-sector projects.

"Everything is on the table," Kasich told The Dispatch editorial board. "We're taking nothing off the table except tax increases, because it makes us less competitive."

Strickland has come closer to saying that a tax increase would be necessary, but he has stopped short, emphasizing instead the devastating cuts to critical services that he says Kasich would have to make.

"I just heard John say that he thinks he can balance a budget with a $6 or $8 billion deficit by cutting," Strickland told The Dispatch. "I'm not willing to cut an additional $8 billion out of what we provide to the people of Ohio. I'll do whatever it takes to keep that from happening."

Kasich has summed up the choice in a TV ad that has him standing, literally, at the point where two roads diverge.

"We can stay where we are and, I think, lose more jobs, or we can take a new path and start reviving Ohio," he said.

Strickland agrees with the imagery but not the conclusion.

"My road is headed in a positive, forward direction," he said. "I think his road is headed, quite frankly, toward a dead end."